A total of 38 human cases of Bird Flu had been reported in California as of Jan. 15, and no cases had been reported in Riverside County as of Jan. 30, a health system spokesperson confirmed with Patch.

The bird flu is spread from infected cows, birds, cats, and other mammals to people in various ways, including breathing in dust or droplets with the virus and touching your face or consuming raw, unpasteurized milk or milk products. “Animals such as cats are more susceptible through the exposure of raw milk products,” they said.

Riverside County Health Officer Dr. Geoffrey Leung said health officials are mainly concerned about the exposure risks to farm and agricultural workers and those in regular contact with livestock.

Farmworkers and those exposed to such animals regularly should take proper precautions against the outbreak, he advised. However, members of the public, should also be cautious when coming into contact with farm animals, backyard flocks or even cats.

“No person-to-person virus transmission has been detected in the United States,” according to the health department. “Bird flu is spread from infected cows, birds and other animals to people in a variety of ways. These include breathing in dust or droplets with the virus, touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands after touching contaminated surfaces, or handling sick or dead animals and consuming raw unpasteurized milk or milk products.”

Officials recommended the following precautions for those who may have exposure risks:

• Wash hands immediately after contact with farm or wild animals, or handling anything around them;
• Don’t touch eyes, nose or mouth before hand-washing;
• Use personal protective equipment when in the animals’ spaces;
• Try to shower after working with the animals; and
• As much as possible, only interact with them outdoors or in well-ventilated locations.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, bird flu symptoms include red eyes, coughing, sore throat, clogged nasal passages, diarrhea, vomiting, body aches, headaches, fatigue, respiratory difficulty, and fever.

Bird flu treatment includes antivirals and medicines that stop the flu virus, according to the Mayo Clinic. That treatment is best started as soon as a person is symptomatic. Anyone who has been diagnosed with the Bird Flu should quarantine themselves away from other people, including those in your home.

“The overall risk to the general population is low,” Dr. Leung said. “Additional safety measures are being implemented at affected dairy and poultry farms, including ongoing monitoring for symptoms in farm workers, the use of personal protective equipment, and ensuring access to timely laboratory testing and treatment if and when needed.”

The Riverside University Health System is collaborating with the Office of the Agricultural Commissioner, the Department of Animal Services, and the Department of Environmental Health to identify risks at livestock facilities and implement containment measures when necessary.

Officials say that “poultry owners with flocks that have experienced any suspicious illness or deaths should call the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Sick Bird Hotline at 866-922-2473.”

Additional information on the avian variant is available at www.ruhealth.org/avianflu.

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Carcasses left in the open and picked over by scavengers could facilitate the spread of bird flu to other birds and wild animals or degrade the carcasses such that they cannot be processed for rendering, experts told Reuters.

Bird flu has spread to more than 300 dairy herds in 14 states this year, and infected 120 herds in top milk producing state California since the end of August. The virus also has infected 25 people this year, including 11 in California.

Infected herds in California are seeing mortality rates as high as 15% or 20%, compared to 2% in other states, said Keith Poulsen, a veterinarian and director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory who has researched bird flu.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture did not respond to questions about the mortality rate from bird flu.

In the state’s Central Valley, extreme heat has exacerbated health issues in cows suffering from the virus, which causes fever, slowed milk production and other symptoms, said Anja Raudabaugh, CEO of Western United Dairies, which represents almost 90% of the state’s dairy farms.

Farms that might normally lose one or two cows per month have had hundreds die, Raudabaugh said.

Farmers contract with rendering companies to pick up dead cows. But rendering companies, which process the carcasses to produce tallow and hide, are struggling to keep up, leading some farmers to leave cows outside for days, Raudabaugh added.

Steve Lyle, spokesperson for California’s agriculture department, said the state’s rendering industry has capacity for the higher mortality rates, and that one rendering company experienced delays this month as a result of hotter temperatures.

Temperatures in the southern Central Valley, home to many dairies, have exceeded 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) six times so far in October, according to the National Weather Service.

Baker Commodities, a California rendering company, has seen an increase in dead dairy cows due to the heat and bird flu, said spokesperson Jimmy Andreoli II.

The company’s routes have been somewhat delayed by safety measures, which include drivers disinfecting truck tires to avoid carrying bird flu from farm to farm, but it has been able to keep up with demand, Andreoli said.

The state needs to do more testing to contain the virus, said Crystal Heath, a veterinarian in Los Angeles who took photos of dead cows outside Mendonsa Dairy in Tulare County.

As a safety measure, farmers leave dead infected cows far from their healthy herds to decrease the risk of further spread, said Raudabaugh, whose organization represents Mendonsa Dairy. Mendonsa could not be reached for comment.

Joey Airoso, a Tulare County dairy farmer, said he is surrounded by dairies that have been hit with bird flu infections.

“The way its been traveling around here, I feel like almost everybody will probably get it,” he said.

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